[lit-ideas] Re: Decisions, decisions

  • From: Robert.Paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Robert Paul)
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: 22 Oct 2004 19:36:43 PDT

I want to thank Mike Chase for pointing out to me the philosophical issues which
I hadn't seen before in the Matrix. I really hadn't thought of it, the film, in
that way, no doubt because I was caught up the leather and special effects.

Mike says that [in this film] 'Precisely who is making what choices at what
moments is not always immediately transparent...' No doubt this is true, but to
someone with my uneducated taste and lack of sophistication, precisely who is
making what choices at what moments in real life is hardly ever immediately
apparent. To say that 'free will vs. determinism' is a 'theme' sidesteps the
lesson of Eric Yost's useful distinctions:

>I'm assuming Donal means "the movie intentionally 
illustrates philosophical themes," rather than "a philosopher may use 
the movie to represent philosophical themes" or "a philosopher may 
explicate the grounding philosophical assumptions of the people who made 
the film" or "a philosopher may use the film as a tabula on which to 
project philosophical themes not inherent in the film's creation.<
 
It would seem to be the last of these that's at work here. (Philosophical
disclaimer: I have never seen a really challenging presentation of the 'problem
of free will,' although to the extent that I understand it at all, I'm a
compatibilist.) I must say though that to the extent that one believes that
choices are being made, one is surely committed to something like free will.
Although when and where actual choices are being made is no easy thing to
determine.

Robert Paul
Reed College 
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